Northampton County Executive John Brown wants county council to contract Four-Score LLC, to be represented by Deana Zosky, for $715,200 over four years to assess and reprioritize the county budget.
(Express-Times File Photos)

Brown, sworn-in last month, said during a news conference the Emmaus financial consulting company Four-Score LLC would fill an essential role in efforts to close a $13 million budget deficit.

Brown said he will not allow archaic government practices to continue without a full review, and he is working to create a more centralized department of fiscal affairs. As that process gets underway, he said, he wants Deana Zosky, of Four-Score, to provide analysis.

"Taxpayers expect me to restore fiscal sanity to county government by developing innovative solutions and robust financial-recovery planning to get Northampton County back on the right track," Brown said.

Brown said he is particularly relying on Four-Score to create a monitoring tool that would allow him, council and the public to track how well the government is operating under its limited resources. That's something not even a new director of finance, a position vacant for the past three years, could provide, he said.

"I do see the consultant really bringing a different angle to it in helping directly create the reporting tools I'd like to see," he said.

The consultant fees would be covered, in part, by cost savings the administration has already created, Brown said. The decision to convert the solicitor's office to a part-time staff saved approximately $100,000, he noted as an example.

The contract does not cover the cost for custom computer programming expenses that could arise through the creation of the monitoring tool, which is referred to as a "reporting dashboard" in the contract.

If it becomes evident that the contract is not living up to
expectations, Brown said, he would not hesitate to back out under the 30-day escape clause built into every county contract, he said. He doubted it would come to that.

Brown also defended his decision to begin direct negotiations with Zosky over the contract without putting the matter out for bid. Brown insisted the decision falls within his power as county executive and that it was up to county council to approve it or not. He said he was confident in Zosky's abilities and wanted her to perform the job.

"This is not something I just wanted to turn over to the lowest bidder," Brown said.

Councilman Lamont McClure, however, claims in a letter released today the contract must be bid. The Four-Score contract repeatedly violates the Home Rule Charter because of its no-bid status, McClure wrote, and he called on Brown to withdraw the contract from consideration.

Brown can only enter into a contract with Four-Score if the business is the only one that can offer the business consulting services he's seeking, McClure said, which he called unlikely. Even if it is, Brown needed to receive council's approval for the contract before negotiations began, not after, he wrote.

"Her proposal quite clearly demonstrates that she and Four Score LLC, will be providing 'professional services.' This contract cannot be awarded on a 'non-competitive' basis," McClure wrote.

Lastly, all service contracts over $100,000 must be competitively bid, McClure wrote. The courts hashed this out recently with the recent dispute between former Executive John Stoffa and county council over a Gracedale nursing home transportation contract, he said.